Midterm: 4 Theories

Ethical Egoism (Hobbes), Utilitarianism (Bentham & Mill), Deontology (Kant), Natural Law Theory (Aquinas)

Ethical Egoism
Highest Principle

“Always act in your own self-interest.”

Ethical Egoism
Criteria

1. Use of limited altruism

2. Relative interests; Knowledge of own motivations

Utilitarianism

Highest Principle

“Create the greatest amount of happiness (pleasure) for the greatest number of people (sentient beings).”

Utilitarianism

Criteria (according to Bentham)

1. Intensity

2. Duration

3. Fruitfulness (Fecundity)

4. Certainty

5. Kinship/Proximity (Propinquity)

6. Purity

7. Extent

Deontology

Highest Principle

“Act only on the motivation of duty.”

Deontology

Criteria

1. First Formulation:
   “Act only on that maxim that you could will that maxim to become a universal law.”

2. Second Formulation:
   “So act as that you use humanity whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end, never merely as a means.”

Natural Law Theory

Highest Principle

“Good is to be done, evil avoided.”

Natural Law Theory

Criteria

1. Cosmos
   Self-preservation

2. Animals
   Reproducing
   Educating the young

3. Humans
   Living in society
   Seeking to know the truth about God

Ethical Egoism

Prominent Figure(s)

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

Utilitarianism

Prominent Figure(s)

Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

Deontology

Prominent Figure(s)

Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

Natural Law Theory

Prominent Figure(s)

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274)

Utilitarianism
Criteria (according to Mill)

1. Higher pleasures
   Intellectual + Bodily

2. Lower pleasures
   Bodily only